More than 80 percent of 224 respondents to a recent online poll at theheraldbulletin.com said that trips to Asia by local economic development officials are not worth the expense to taxpayers.
The poll question was published in The Herald Bulletin the same day the newspaper printed an article about plans for three officials — one from Madison County and two from Anderson — to take a 14-day trip to China and South Korea. The poll results were printed in the newspaper the next day.
Though the poll is far from scientific, the clear majority response indicates a healthy skepticism on the part of the public toward costly economic development efforts.
Most people’s opinions are informed by results. If they don’t see local investment and jobs coming from trips to Asia, they question the value of the effort and whether it is a prudent use of taxpayer money.
Economic development officials will tell you that the value of such trips is not so easily quantified. They point out that relationship building with businesses — especially in Asia — is all about personal contact. It might take several trips overseas, coupled with visits here by foreign business people, to persuade an international company to site a plant in Madison County.
In the end, it is possible that no new businesses will land in Madison County as a result of these economic development trips to Asia. But if our officials don’t go, there will be almost no chance of it happening.
The upcoming trip will cost a total of about $24,000, according to county Corporation for Economic Development Director Rob Sparks, who will be one of the three on the trip. The $24,000 includes meals, interpreters, hotel rooms, airfare and other expenses for the three officials combined.
Economic development officials have the responsibility of providing as much detail as possible about such trips, including what the expense is, so that the public knows the trips are more than mere junkets. In the story published Tuesday in The Herald Bulletin, the three local officials detailed what the upcoming trip will comprise and what they hope to accomplish. (Find the story at theheraldbulletin.com by searching for “South Korea”.)
Some economic development officials worry that possible deals may be quashed by leaking sensitive information to the public, and that is a legitimate concern. Officials also worry that public expectations can be inflated by media reports of economic development efforts in the media. There’s a danger there, too.
But the greater danger is the potential public perception, in the vacuum created by secrecy, that public money is being spent without a high likelihood of an eventual payoff in new jobs for Madison County.
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